USERS
by Galaway
Summary: An original fiction based on the .hack universe, taking place about six months after the games. Mild language at points; a must-read for die hard .hack fans. Please review!
1. CHARACTERS

.hack//USERS

_Spiel: **.hack** and related characters and elements copyright Bandai, yadda yadda yadda. You know the drill._

Chapter 1: CHARACTERS 

            There are many, many players in _The World_. Approximately twenty million worldwide.

            In _The World_, you pay a fee, sign up, create an edited character out of a base model, and delve into an online world. After the net crisis and the Pluto's Kiss incident, online play was banned, and _The World_, for the new ALTIMIT OS, was the first online computer game to be approved by the new Net Reform policies.

            _The World_ has had a lot of trouble; there were reports of people going into comas from playing the game, and an outbreak of a dangerous virus, originating in _The World_, threatened the entire newly reformed network. A group of players, known as the "Dot-Hackers", were able to stem the outbreak of the virus and save _The World_, as well as the real world.

            In any case, small circles of players develop inside _The World_. People randomly call upon others to join parties, are introduced to friends, friends of friends, and so on. There's no rhyme or reason to the game. No plot. It's a social environment where people can meet. Maybe go on a little adventure. Collect treasures. You can play the game however you want.

            This is a story about the coming together of small group of acquaintances to play _The World_. All of them know each other loosely, be it in the game or in real life. Some are friends, others bitter rivals. Some are new, some have been playing a long time. Some are young, some are older. But they all work in tandem towards a common goal.

~*~*~

            A female Twin Blade logged into her account. She had long, violet hair that ran halfway down her back, her eyes perpetually closed in a cheerful expression, with a tattoo of a green, vertical line in the outside corner of each eye, tracing the shape of her face, almost to her chin. She wore a red, ribbed, sleeveless turtleneck and red shorts, edges trimmed with silver, and around each arm spiraled an additional blue and gray tattoo, which secluded itself under the cuffs of her blown-leather gloves. While this wasn't reciprocated on her legs, the young girl did wear similar brown boots.

            The Twin Blade wandered into the courtyards of Dun Loireag. It was unusually quiet today, especially for a Saturday afternoon. She sat on a bench and looked through her item inventory with a slightly disappointed face.

            "Time to restock," she said with a voice of prepubescent quality. "I wish I had more money…"

            Standing, she walked to the item shop, bartering with the shopkeeper in hopes that he would let her purchase more Health Drinks than she really had the money for.

            "Come on, _please?_ I don't have that much money, and if I go on a dungeon adventure, I might not make it back!"

            "I might be a shopkeeper, but I'm still human-controlled. I can see your level is high enough. Why not go to a low level dungeon and get some treasure from there to sell?"

            "Can't you just help me out? Just this once?" The expression on her face was one of pure desperation, without a hint of dishonesty. The shopkeeper caved.

            "Oh, alright. I can cut the price by 40 GP. But don't tell _anyone_."

            The smile returned to her mouth. "Thank you so very much! I'll never forget this day!" She forked over a good 5500 GP, near the limit to what she had to give, and was on her merry way. Then, as she approached the Chaos Gate, it occurred to her.

            "Oh, _no_! But now I'm _totally _out of money!"

~*~*~

            Somewhere on the Lambda server, a male Blademaster, dressed head to toe in silver armor and wearing a white-winged helmet, blocked a female Wavemaster from entering a dungeon in a snowy play field.

            "CV, get out of my way. You're being an ass again," cried the Wavemaster, her yellow gown rustling as she shifted about. Orange floral patterns speckled it, a custom texture she had been given permission to upload. Contrary to other Wavemasters, she did not wear a hat, her white hair sticking out wildly and uninhibited. Her skin tone was dark, another unusual trait for Wavemaster players. She pushed the Blademaster by the shoulder of his broad, iron mantle in an effort to get past him. He swung his sword menacingly, causing her to retreat a few steps.

            "_You_ get out of _here_, Diana," he teased. "You know as well as I do that you can't do this dungeon alone."

            "How do _you_ know, Car-"

            CV cut her off abruptly. "**Don't you _dare_** refer to me by my real name in _The World_! In here, I'm known as 'CV-100'. You'd be wise to remember."

            "Oh, how callous of me. Let me through, or I'm going to have to get physical." She pointed her cross-shaped staff towards him shakily.

            "Was that a threat? I'm at a higher level than you, not to mention you're a _Wavemaster_…" He sneered a little in front of his terminal, invisible under his helm, chuckling coldly.

            Diana backed up, looking hesitant. Then, suddenly:

            "Merue Rom!"

            CV was far too fast, and Diana fell before the spell could even resolve. Ice blocks swirled around him harmlessly.

            "Foolish girl," he said, staring down at her grayed body. "This could have been avoided if you'd invited me along in the first place."

            When Diana respawned into _The World_, she returned to the Theta server. CV was right. Carmina Gadelica and its difficult dungeons would have been far too much for her; but still, did he have to PK her like that? Sullen, she sat on a small wooden dock overlooking the misty lowlands of Theta's Dun Loireag. A mature looking Twin Blade, bearing a grayed, brush-cut hairstyle, approached her.

            The Twin Blade wore a gray vest, laced in the front, over a white turtleneck. Matching slacks that tied near his ankles were accompanied by rough-looking adventurer's boots, made of what would appear to be black leather. Contrary to other Twin Blades of his base model, he wore neither a hat, nor gloves. He sat near Diana.

            "Life got you down?" he asked in an older, rasped voice. His head turned to look at her, but his eyes were obscured by a long, gray bandana.

            "What business is it of yours?"

            "None, really. Guess I was just looking to cheer up another player. Don't see many Wavemasters who play without hats on their edits."

            "Look, if you're trying to pick me up, you can forget it."

            "Honestly, it's nothing like that… From the look of it, I'd say someone cut you pretty deep."

            "Uh…" Diana looked away, staring down at her wand laid at her feet. It was true in both a literal and emotional sense.

            "Hey, don't worry about it. But if you need to talk to someone, I'm usually around. The name's Gil."

            "I'm Diana."

            "That's a pretty name. Are you from Japan?"

            "No, I'm from England. You probably recognized my silly accent, eh?"

            Gil chuckled, speaking in English. "I don't make points of such things, being from America myself."

            "And you're on the Japanese server?" responded Diana, also in English.

            "I moved to Japan a long time ago."

            She looked away again. "It's nice to find another player like me…"

            "There are plenty of players like us," Gil finished, standing slowly.

            Diana nodded. "You're logging out?"

            "Yeah. I've got work in the morning."

            "On _Saturday?_"

            "Yup. What they pay me for."

            "Aww, that sucks. Anyway, it was nice to speak with you. I'll be sure to contact you sometime."

            "Thanks. Talk with you later." The older Twin Blade smiled and waved, a trio of gold rings dissolving his image.

~*~*~

            A male Long Arm player was one of the first to log into the Sigma server the next morning, not appearing as he normally did.

            The contest winner, Jinn, had received a special character edit, bearing the wings of the legendary Lord Balmung of the Azure Sky. His hair was made exceedingly long, and he was robed in deep hues of silken blue. The new facial edit graced him with a rare, elaborate dragon tattoo on the left side, snaking from under his ear to the base of his neck.

            Such was the reward of a high-level player for clearing an elite event. A character edit like this would be sure to turn heads. Jinn felt unnecessarily obvious. He missed his old edit with the spiky hair and the samurai breastplate.

            But he persevered. A shopkeeper greeted him as a system administrator.

            "Congratulations, Player Jinn. You've completed the _Gaia's Beast_ event. On behalf of the CC Corporation and us here at _The World_, I'd like to congratulate you."

            "Thank you very much," said Jinn. "I'm honored to receive such a gift."

            "The players on your Member Address List have been informed of the change. If you know someone who is _not_ on your address list, I think it would be wise to contact them with the good news."

            "Thank you," nodded Jinn. "I'll keep that in mind."

            The ring trio dissolved the moderator, another appearing behind him to trace the figure of a male Wavemaster.

            "Hey, Jinn!" This Wavemaster dressed in a style similar to the basic model; his main edits consisted of long, brown hair, compassionate brown eyes, and brown horizontal lines on either cheek. He wore green robes; the circular gems on his hat stood a sapphire hue. One could have easily mistaken him for the Wavemaster Tsukasa if they ignored his coloring, a player who made quite a buzz when he became unable to log out, a rumor spreading about his condition; His player had been thrown into a coma.

But all that was far in the past. About a year in the past.

            "Taragon, what're you doing on so early?"

            "I got the e-mail from an admin telling me about your new model. It looks really cool! Did it come with any cool stuff?"

            "Nah, I think this is kind of a rip off. You actually like it?"  
            "Of course! It's awesome. Very powerful-looking, yet restrained. I'm a little angry that you didn't invite me along… Jealous, I guess."

            "Yeah, sorry. I went solo on this one. Would have pissed off a lot of my friends, having only been able to invite two people."

            "That's understandable."

            "So what've you been up to?"

            "Not much. Even at my level, I'm still limited to SP consumption, so I need to play with others in order to be of any use. But it's a good way to get publicity, even in dungeons lower than my current level. 'Male Wavemaster seen working alone in Level sixty-two dungeon!'" He laughed.

            "I was wondering if you'd seen that on the message boards. The description _did_ sound like you. Wanna go on a dungeon adventure?"

            "No thanks, I've got somewhere to be. But I'll see you later."

            "Alright, then. Later."

            "Of course." The rings returned to remove him.

~*~*~

            Cursing her luck, the female Twin Blade with the purple locks wandered the bridges of Fort Ouph. The Theta and Lambda servers were down. She wouldn't gain any decent experience in Delta. "I wish I were stronger, or knew stronger people…" It was then that she spotted the winged Long Arm.

            "Wow! With an edit like that, he has to be strong!" Running around a series of rather long bridges, she struggled to catch up to him.

            "Hey! _Hey!_ Hold on, I want to talk to you!"

            Jinn turned to see the femme Twin Blade running towards him. "Yeah?"

            "My name is Raulen, and I'm a Twin Blade… You look very strong. Would you mind terribly… going on a dungeon adventure with me?"

            "Raulen? Nice to meet you. I'm Jinn. And I'd love to go on an adventure with you. What's your level?"

            Raulen hesitated, but decided there was no use in lying. "Twenty-eight," she sighed.

            The response took Jinn by surprise. "Why are you here on the Sigma server, then? A server like Theta would serve you much better."

            "It's down…"

            "Ah, I understand. I'm level seventy-three, just so you know."

            "So you'll still come along with me? I'll let you keep all the treasure!"

            "Of course. And you shouldn't worry about it. I'd be happy to level you up."

            What could be seen of Raulen's eyes shone with gratitude. "Thank you so much! I'll never forget this day!"

            Jinn lead her to the chaos gate. "Just let me do the fighting," he said. "Hang back and heal me if my HP gets too low. What restorative skills do you have?"

            "Repth is the only restore skill I have…"

            "Ah, sorry, I've forgotten what it's like to be a lower-level player… The monsters will be very strong, so you'll probably not want to fight."

            "I understand. Thank you."

            Raulen jogged closely behind Jinn, marveling at his battle skill and how much it outmatched hers. He was able to eliminate many enemies in this forested area with a single stroke, and she had already gained five levels.

            Oh, wait, no. Make that six.

            "Thirty-four!! Thanks, Jinn!"

            "Hey, don't mention it, kid. Now I remember what it was like, being a newbie like you. I'd have killed to get people to level me up." He swung his broad spear, engraved with Chinese characters, menacingly over the corpse of a defeated monster.

            Unexpectedly, a loud shriek echoed through the forest from the east. The long ears of Jinn's new edit perked up, twitching as he looked in that direction.

            "Someone's in trouble. C'mon." Saying that, he raced into the distance, Raulen tagging closely behind.

            Exiting into another clearing, a female Heavy Axe cowered in its corner. The edit she'd created was a bizarre one; her gown was black, her petit wings black, her hair shoulder-length and black, her shoes black… Deep blue eyes stared up at the prospect of death, her weapon far away, and a monstrous form towering over her. Her skin was deathly pale.

            "Woah, that's a big sucker! Hold on, kid!" Jinn moved to hurl his spear, but something interrupted him. Mainly, the monster's death.

            Another player had been in the area. She was edited similar to the legendary dot-hacker "BlackRose", the basic female Heavy Blade edit, bearing an African skin tone and a gold breastplate with a simple blue trim around its edges. The similar crotchplate bracing her pelvis had a flowing, blue loincloth extending from its base, making up for the leggings she did not wear. Her hair was long and white, her eyes gray, and her entire body covered in tribal-looking, lavender tattoos.

            "You alright?" asked the Heavy Blade.

            "I… I think so," replied the gothic Heavy Axe.

"Good." She was gone, after that. The rings had taken her away again. In the meantime, the Heavy Axe had gotten up and collected her weapon, looking at Jinn and Raulen rather embarrassedly.

"I'm, ahh… I'm sorry," she stammered, bowing politely. "I'm not good at this… don't know why I started playing…"

Raulen's slit-eyes arched depressedly. "Come on. You can't be that bad if you got this far."

The girl dropped her axe again and buried her face in her hands. "I'm a failure!" she cried, her wireframe hiccupping softly. Neatly and carefully, she fell to her knees. Raulen moved to approach her, but Jinn clasped a gentle hand on the Twin Blade's shoulder disapprovingly.

"So get stronger," he said to the Heavy Axe.

She glanced up, virtual tears streaming down her face. "W-what?"

"I can't have pity for you if you just give up. You shouldn't have to succumb to your weakness. What is your name?"

"K… Kaede," squeaked the pale girl.

"Well, Kaede, if you'd joined a party, you shouldn't be having a problem. There's safety in numbers. Remember that.

"…No one wants to play with me…" she muttered.

Jinn looked shocked, glancing back at Raulen, who simply shrugged. "Heavy Axes are in short supply, as not many females choose it as their class, and the male edits are just ugly. They're probably intimidated by it."

"…No, it's because they hate me. Everyone hates me."

"I seriously doubt that every player in _The World_ could not only know, but also _hate_ you. We don't hate you. Right, Raulen?"

Raulen nodded cheerfully in agreement, raising a dagger into the air and hopping. "I like your edit. It's pretty."

Kaede's gaze finally shifted up from the dirt in front of her.

"Why not join up with us? We've got room for another player."

With shining eyes, the Heavy Axe picked up her weapon again, showering the pair before her with humble thanks and praises. She approached them with still-watery eyes.

"Lead the way. Wherever you go, I will do my best to follow you."

~*~*~

Diana woke up around 10:00 on Saturday to play The World. She didn't have school, and only worked on Sundays, so Saturday was her day to play. She logged back on.

Feh. None of her friends were on. Besides that insipid CV-100. And with the server best for her current level down, she couldn't get any character building done. With regret, she slipped onto Mac Anu. Sure, it'd be boring. But she might be able to help a newbie in the area. Why not?

After a short jaunt around the streets, it came to Diana that the server was packed with people who weren't suited, level-wise, for either of the active servers. And ever since they established the stupid permission ward on Omega, the servers had been less one. Perhaps a gondola ride would relieve her boredom… the city of Mac Anu was beautifully constructed, strongly European in design, akin to the city of Venice in the real world. She sat down with her staff across her lap in the small boat, shelling out fifteen gold pieces as her fee. Another Wavemaster rushed over, paid his own fee, then carefully sat in front of her, seated face-to-face as the gondolier pushed off. The Wavemaster Taragon had given Diana no time to react.

"Hey, you, what do you think you're doing?" She leaned forward, giving him a stern look in the eye. "It's rude to steal others' private rides."

"You only paid fifteen, didn't you?" replied Taragon quickly. "Since you didn't pay the thirty for both seats, I should be able to purchase the other one if I'd like."

Diana hadn't expected him to retort. "You're… I guess. Sorry. A little bored today. Made me snappish, I guess."

Taragon chuckled. "Your accent is funny."

"It is not!"

"Sure is. You're British?"

"Yeah… I suppose my pronunciation isn't perfect, but it isn't bad, either!"

"You know, in Japanese, you can more freely emphasize syllables. You say everything with a very strict English emphasis. Watch more television, you'll see what I mean."

"Oh… Thanks, I guess."

There was an awkward silence, conversation avoided between the pair. The streets _were_ packed, the construction perpetually crumbling as it was designed, and the shopkeepers hustling their goods amongst the players as best they could.

"It's marvelous," spoke Taragon. "Can you imagine the scope of a project like _The World_? How much effort it would have taken?"

"Umm… yeah. It's really… great." Diana had never really thought about it before… It was miraculously impressive, _The World_. Each town, by scale, was at least two square miles. And there wasn't a lot of texture or building repetition.

"Truth is… I was late for an appointment. I was supposed to meet a girl here. I think. Sometimes I lose track…"

"Forgetful type, eh?"

"Yeah… Poor Subaru…"

"Wait, do you mean _the_ Subaru? Lady Subaru, formerly of the Crimson Knights?"

"Huh? Oh, maybe… I might have met her after that whole thing."

"That's so cool! You need to introduce me to her. I thought she didn't access anymore."

Taragon looked troubled. He hopped off the gondola quickly as it approached a small dock.

"Hey, wait! Where are you going?"

"I have to… take care of something."

"Oh, okay, I understand. My name's Diana, by the way!"

"I'm Taragon!" They were shouting to each other as the boat pulled further and further away. "I'll be sure to talk to Subaru for you!"

As soon as heads turned at the name of Lady Subaru, the Wavemaster was gone. Diana wondered how a player like him could move so quickly… But the excitement of being able to meet _the_ Lady Subaru was almost too much for her to handle.


	2. REPETITION

.hack//USERS

Chapter 2: REPETITION 

            "So he looked like _that_ Wavemaster? What was his name… Tsukasa?"

            "Yeah, if I remember the wanted posters from Mac Anu about a year ago."

            Diana and Gil sat on a bench together in Carmina Gadelica, speaking in English. 

            "It's bizarre," continued Diana. "He said he was going to meet Lady Subaru. Wasn't there some scandal between that other Wavemaster and the original 'Subaru-style' player about a year ago?"

            "I heard they were in love," said Gil, arms crossed.

            "In _love_? How can you fall in love through an online game?"

            The male Twin Blade sighed. "It's happened to me. A long while ago, at the dawn of the millennium, I used to play text-based role-playing games with my friends on the original 'net through Instant Messanging clients. And I fell in love with one of them… and their character."

            "That's weird."

            "I was young at the time. When I met the person in real life… I didn't have the feelings for them that I had for their character online."

            "So you're an old guy?" Diana snickered. "I remember you saying you moved to Japan a long time ago."

            Gil stopped a moment, looking a bit aghast. "Déjà vu," he said.

            "The feeling you've done something before?"

            "Yeah, that. I suddenly got a rush of strange memories… By any chance, do you know any ganguro-looking Heavy Blades? It seems like I've had this exact conversation with one before."

            "No, not a one. I've seen them around, though. Seems like a popular style for female Heavy Blade characters. Is the conversation playing out like you remember it?"  
            "I believe my line was 'This is not the physique of a child. I guess an edited character doesn't mean much on the web,' or something like that."

            "Curiouser and curiouser."

            "Indeed. But my Children's Lit professor in college agreed that Lewis Carroll was a complete stoner."

            Diana laughed, louder, this time. "Hey, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"What do you do? For a living?"

            Gil paused yet again, easing into an uncomfortably long silence… and finally chuckled. "I think I'm supposed to tell you that you have three guesses."

            "Is that some kind of adult-career-explaining rule I should know about?"

            "Mmm… You could say that."

            "Well, I'm still a student," proclaimed Diana. "So there!"

            "Great. But that's not going to encourage me divulging my career to you!"

            Diana made a frustrated grunt. "I'm going to have dinner with my host family. See you later for that dungeon."

            "Heh. Alright, see you. Meet me at the field we decided on earlier, okay?" He waved as the femme Wavemaster logged out, then stood with a hop to wander about the newly restored Lambda server. It had crashed minorly yesterday afternoon, along with Theta, and was given a 24-hour cool-down period. At least according to the CC Corp. mailer.

            Crossing one of the bridges near the chaos gate, Gil wandered down into the market district. Shopping, shopping, shopping… Back when he lived in America, he had hated it. But living in Tokyo had brought out the shopper in him.

            A female Heavy Blade pounded a fist on a countertop nearby. Her ganguro appearance… perhaps this was the Heavy Blade Gil had had a flashback about.

            "These prices are an outrage! What do you take me for, some kind of newbie?"

            The shopkeeper jumped and took a step back. "These are the prices the CC Corp. set down for the items I'm to sell! I don't want to break their rules!"

            "Fine," said the lavender-tattooed swordswoman indifferently. "I'll take my business elsewhere."

            As the woman walked away, Gil ran after her. "Excuse me! Ganguro Heavy Blade!"

            Hearing this, she spun around, wielding her enormous weapon inches from the Twin Blade's nose. "Don't ever call me that, you insolent bastard. Now, what do you want?"

            Gil took three steps back, losing his balance and falling on his butt. "Geez, relax, would you? I just wondered… have we met before?"

            "Look, if you're trying to pick me up-"

            "…I can forget it."

            The woman tilted her head. "…How did you know what I was going to say?"

            He stood again, watching the Heavy Blade sheathe her weapon. "Intuition. Your name isn't… Mimi, is it?"

            "No, I'm Hina. What do you call yourself?"

            "You can call me Gil."

            "Well, 'Gil', I'm not really interested in talking to you. So if you don't mind, I'll be on my merry way."

            "Ahh. All right, then. Hope to see you again."

            "Wish I could say the same," said Hina, waving over her shoulder indifferently, an air she put onto many of her actions.

            The female Heavy Axe with the gothic appearance, Kaede, jumped in front of her, impeding her escape from conversation.

            "You! You're the swordswoman who saved me yesterday! I'm so happy to be able to see you again. Thank you for your help. I can't thank you enough."

            Hina turned arrogantly and logged from her account, leaving Gil to approach the frail-looking girl.

            "You know her?"

            "Yessir. She assisted me in battle… When I was too weak to continue fighting."

            "'Too weak'? I can't imagine that… I've got a little bit of time. Would you like to go on a dungeon adventure?"

            Kaede was taken aback.

            "And no," continued Gil. "I'm not trying to pick you up."

~*~*~

            Rumors spread quickly in _The World_. One was starting right now.

            "I hear Subaru's started logging in again," said the helmeted Blademaster, CV-100, leaning against a fence in Dun Loireag.

            "Who's Subaru?" asked the young Twin Blade who had paid the Blademaster most of her money for what he had deemed "valuable information". Raulen was sick of being played for a fool.

            "Subaru was a Heavy Axe character who used to be the leader of the Crimson Knights, an honorable society who upheld the rules and netiquette of _The World_. She disbanded the group, and a Blademaster named SilverKnight ended up picking up the slack. He used to be one of her underlings. Nowadays, no one knows that happened to the knights, or Lady Subaru for that matter."

            "You sure know a lot."

            "That's what players like you pay me for, isn't it?"

            Raulen smiled and giggled. "That's something good to know, about the Crimson Knights, I mean. I'm always up to learn more about _The World_."

            "There's a lot to learn. The game's been around for a long time."

            "I guess, yeah."

            An awkward pause. Then:

            "I know the guy who completed the Gaia's Beast event," said Raulen.

            CV stood and took up an astonished look, hidden beneath his helm. "You're kidding!"

            "Nope! His name is Jinn, and he's a really nice guy. He's online right now. Maybe I could get him to come to the Theta server if he isn't too busy?"

            That name. Jinn.

"Kitsune…" muttered CV under his breath, somewhat taken aback.

            "A fox? He's not a fox. He's a Long Arm." Raulen giggled. "I'll send him a Flash Mail, hold on-"

            "No, that's alright. I really don't feel like I need to meet him. In fact, I'm going to leave right now. So… Don't bother." He was gone hurriedly, nervous voice still hanging in the air. Raulen questioned what the hell his problem was… going from eager to terrified in a matter of seconds.

            Speak of the devil. Jinn had just sent her a party invite.

            From the Omega server!!

            Raulen nearly fell from the fence she was sitting on, replying that she didn't have the skill or priority, as a player, to enter Omega.

            Jinn's response was, "You want to see the Root Town, though, right?"

            Of course she did.

            "We don't have to go into any dungeons. You have to see this place! It's amazing!"

            "I guess it couldn't hurt. But no dungeons… I bet the monsters are scary, even for you."

            Stepping up to the chaos gate, Raulen felt a curiously wicked air about it today… Something felt amiss. She didn't want to access that server.

            "What are you waiting for?" called Jinn. "C'mon, it's great!"

            Raising a gloved hand, a fizzy trio of rings tore her from Dun Loireag. The warped transference between servers began to hurt her eyes, and she had the sense to take the visor off her head for a moment, peeking nervously when the resolution of server change was complete.

            This wasn't what the instruction booklet for _The World_ had described the Relic City, Lia Fail as. It was much different. Disturbing.

            Fat, square buildings sat under a dark sky, lit only with what looked like streetlight from invisible lamps. There was a foreboding, dirty feel about the place. It didn't seem populated. Raulen was the only player here.

            "H-hello?" she squeaked. "Anyone here? At all? Jinn?" The Twin Blade was terrified, but stepped forward with caution. "Is this really the Omega server?"

            It took her a few minutes before she began to walk about. It was a large area… but there was no one here. No one at all. The impoverished buildings had no entrances that she could see.

            Turning a corner, she noticed a shaft of white light. Something was descending through it.

            "Do not be afraid," said a matronly voice. "I'm not here to harm you."

            Raulen didn't tremble. The vibrant light was comforting, and the female figure descending it was inspiring to see.

            She was dressed all in white, a long  gown completely veiling her legs. The shoulders of her outfit were broad, coming down in sleeves that flared from the elbow. On her head she wore a stiff, flat-topped miter, a red visor trimmed with gold before her eyes, and long, white pieces framing her ears, behind which flowed graceful, blonde hair. Her chest was nearly bare in contrast, her breasts only covered with white strips of cloth that crossed at the base of her ribs. In her right hand she carried a wand, the bottom of which separated in to four, parallel prongs from the shaft and the end of which held a red orb, encircled with perpendicular rings.

            "Welcome to paradise," she said. "I am Helba, Queen of the Dark."

            "'Queen of the Dark'?" Raulen stammered.

            "Yes." It was a simple answer, one that dodged explanation for the reasoning behind the title. It was, indeed, a long story. "Be not afraid, as I assure you that I won't harm you. Now, how did you get to this place? Do you remember?"

            "I… I passed through the Chaos Gate in Dun Loireag, heading towards the Omega server. To meet a friend. Is this it? The Relic City?"

            "No, this is an area apart from _The World_ on my own server, known widely through rumor and legend as _Net Slum_; a place to harbor hackers, illegal data, and deleted NPCs that I'm able to salvage. They can live their lives peacefully here in their own paradise. It _was_ a mirror of the Omega server at one point, but the link has since been taken care of. Or so I'd thought." Helba smiled a beautiful smile. She was, truly, a work of art.

            Raulen sighed, relieved. It wasn't a sinister place after all. "So that would make you… a hacker?"

            "Correct. But I only serve to protect this world and those that enjoy it."

            "Why is this place so barren? Where are all the… people? Or characters, or whatever would live here?"

            The look of blissful temperance fell from Helba's face, her white aura dimming. "Alas, there are those that would disturb the peaceful inhabitants of _Net Slum_… Another hacker, one filled with malice and cruelty, destroyed my paradise. Perhaps the reason you were sent here was because I recently reconstructed this _Net Slum_ server from her vicious attack. But it still doesn't solve why it was you and not someone else. I'm sure many other players have passed to the Omega server since _Net Slum's_ reconstruction."

            The twin blade fought back a tear in the real world. "So everyone living there…"

            "Was destroyed, yes."

            "That's horrible."

            "Indeed, but we will persevere. Now, I should probably send you on your way to meet your friend, and I apologize for the inconvenience," Helba said, gliding forward, "But my delicate situation requires me to give you a rather bold, dangerous proposition."

            "A proposition?" Raulen was curious. "I'm not a hacker, if you were asking."

            "I'm quite aware. I need a player able to access the outside without drawing attention to help me do certain things in relation to this malicious hacker. Since you're the only player I've seen in quite some time, I'd like to ask this of you."

            "Wait… This isn't some 'candid camera' event, is it?"

            "Nothing of the sort, I assure you. I'd even be willing to encrypt your character data with a .hack protocol if you agree."

            "'Dot-hack protocol'? What's that?"

            "The .hack protocol was a tool an… apprentice… of mine developed based on the character ability edit given to a player by the name of Kite from inside the game that gives one's character data exclusive abilities in the game's interface. We studied it thoroughly, and are able to replicate it, usually putting it in the form of an item."

            "But… what would you want me to do?"

            "Players in the game are very influential, as the game itself employs a marvelous, nearly impossible-to-alter physics engine; no object or being is completely impervious to attack. Therefore, just being a player in _The World_ is enough for the things I might call on you to do."

            Raulen was hesitant. Helba could understand.

            "I'll give you some time to think it over, but don't take too long in your response, I implore you. The hacker, Kitsune, intends to destroy the core foundation of _The World_ itself."

            "D-did you say 'Kitsune'?"

            "Yes, I did. Do you know of her?"

            "I'll do it, Lady Helba. I'll help you, simply because I want to know what's really going on."

            "I extend my gratitude, Twin Blade Raulen. I only ask for now that you keep an eye open for suspicious activity. By tomorrow, I will have a tool to aid you in your work."

            "Thank you, Lady Helba."

            Raulen was forced from _Net Slum_, greeted with _The World's_ login screen. She removed her visor and placed it on her console.

_            What just happened_? she asked herself. _Why was I so willing to take part in that woman's plan? I don't even know the whole story yet…There's something about her…Something… benevolent._

~*~*~

            "Aura? Who's that?"

            "Don't you know? She's a legendary NPC regarded by most as the Key of the Twilight. The rumor posted was that she was born from a surrogate mother, and the mother, jealous of her child, seeks to destroy her to the ends of _The World_. You're dense about gossip. You always have been."

            "Don't take that arrogant tone with me, CV! Why do you keep following me? And why is it that you and I are always chatting in these stupid snow fields?"

            "Because I feel like I need to look out for my little sister."

            Diana nearly exploded. "I'm not even your real sister! And that's no reason, anyway! Just because mother and father adopted me doesn't mean I'm any less of a person than you!"

            "You're also boring, _little_ sister, with your same lame arguments... I suppose I could let you go into the dungeon to get yourself killed. Or maybe I'll save you the trouble and PK you here."

            _Where's Gil when I need him the most?_ wondered Diana, clutching her staff to her chest worriedly. CV pointed the tip of his sword at the center of the wand's cross, which lay over her heart. They had agreed to meet on this field… but he was nowhere to be found.

            Something lightning-fast streaked from the sky, an undefined color, and ran through the helmeted swordsman. Gil clambered to his feet, winded from the fierce attack, and glanced at CV's gray, flayed body, a concerned look across his half-masked face.

            "Was I too late? Sorry to keep you waiting. What's the deal with that guy?" The Twin Blade was out of breath.

            Diana sank to her knees. "Y-you were just in time, actually. Thanks."

            "Sorry if I cut it close… Do you still want to go on a dungeon adventure? I brought a friend."

            Kaede dragged her axe behind her, jogging, huffing with the extra weight. "Sir Gil! Please, don't leave without me!"

            Diana stood again. "A Heavy Axe? Cool!" She waved to the pale girl, who waved back. The corpse of CV-100 vanished from the play field before she arrived.

            "Kaede, this is Diana, the Wavemaster I told you about. She'll be joining us on our adventure."

            "Pleased to meet you," muttered the Heavy Axe humbly.

            "Hey, no reason to be so shy," said Diana, a second wind coming to her from her previous brush with death. "We're all friends here."

            The party made their way to the dungeon's mouth, a stronghold of formidable height around a stone archway. "Looks to be a castle dungeon," said Gil, hopping up the stone steps and through the doorway. The girls followed close behind.

            On the inside, Diana held up a Fairy's Orb, giving her map a puzzled glance. "Someone beat us to this dungeon."

            There were no yellow spots on the map at all, nor were there any blue. A look to the Players History was even more curious. No one at all within the past 24 hours had accessed this Water-based field, besides their current party and CV-100.

            "Do you think that player that attacked you cleared this dungeon by himself?"

            "No, I don't think he'd have been able to," replied Diana to Gil. "He's not of a high enough level to challenge this dungeon solo."

            "Then this dungeon…" half-asked Kaede, waiting for someone to finish her sentence.

            "…Has no monsters. Or treasure. C'mon, let's go down a floor or so."

            Sifting through eerily empty rooms, Diana's revealed map guided them to a staircase into the second basement of the dungeon.

            Another Fairy's Orb revealed the expected lack of treasure or items. Even what could be easily identified as the Zeit Statue room was empty. Standard breakable items like jars and warrior's bodies were scattered about, sure, but there was nothing otherwise.

            And upon entering the second room from the exit, they came nearly face-to-face with another player. The Wavemaster, Taragon. Diana hopped and waved excitedly.

            "Taragon! Taragon, over here!" She turned to Gil. "See, I told you another player cleared this dungeon. There must be a glitch in the Player Listing."

            The green-robed Wavemaster began to dash across the room, but tripped and fell. Gil's party went to aid him.

            "You alright, kid?" asked Gil.

            "I'm… okay."

            "Geez, this dungeon was creeping me out. I'm sure glad we found you. It explains all the missing stuff." Diana smiled at him, leaning around to look him in the eye. "But I almost never see a Wavemaster working alone. You must be _powerful!_ Are you?"

            Those words. Something in Taragon's fragile mind called to him, but he chose to ignore it. This girl wasn't a pest at all. In fact, he rather liked her.

            "Did you speak to Subaru for me?"

            "Huh? Oh, yeah… she said… uhh… she said…"

            There was no answer Taragon could produce. Had he seen Subaru recently? 

"I'm sorry," he replied, finally. I guess… I forgot."


End file.
